(Expanded from a comment in this thread.)
It is shameful, inexcusable that when Barack Obama and John McCain come together in a spirit of bipartisanship at ground zero later today, they will be standing in a giant GAPING WOUND in Manhattan.
Seven years later! SEVEN YEARS LATER!! Think about how long that is. Seven years. How many other Manhattan structures have been built in the last seven years, I wonder?
You know how long it took them to build the Statue of Liberty? TWO YEARS! And that was in the 1880s! It was funded in 1882, built by 1884 and it was formally opened in 1886. What do we have in seven years? A GIANT HOLE.
How long did it take for the Oklahoma City Bombing memorial to be built? Five years. What do we have in seven years? A GIANT HOLE.
Better yet, do you know how long it actually took to build the Twin Towers in the first place? SEVEN YEARS and it only took SIX YEARS from the breaking of ground to the time when it was ready for people to move in. The last year was just finishing work. We haven't even begun yet.
Instead of breaking ground, we have broken ground. Instead of closure, we have a wound. I don't blame one political party for this or the Bush administration or the city, county or state of New York. I blame all of us for being so petty, so divided, that we are too busy bickering to remember one thing we all agree must be remembered.
A memorial helps us channel our grief, but it also gives us hope. It shows that we can move on and better ourselves while not forgetting what we have lost.
CNN today has an article up today that says that a memorial on the site is still in the planning stages and has yet to be reviewed by the Port Authority who own the land but they hope it will be there by 2011.
Meanwhile, we're left with an open wound.
I am ashamed that the continued mismanagement and bureaucracy of this nation have prevented us from having a true memorial for all those lives that were lost. I don't think I can even bring myself to watch the two candidates pay their respects.
You can't heal a wound if you let it fester.